Constitution

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CONSTITUTION

UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky on Tuesday urged students at Orange Coast College to keep up with current events and make their voices heard to prevent abuses of power by our nation’s highest authorities in their War on Terror. In a 45-minute speech to hundreds of students, Chemerinsky, an acclaimed Constitutional law attorney, discussed some of the country’s biggest abuses of power in its history; many, he noted, occurred during times of national crisis.

COSTA MESA — A swap meet operator and a group of small-business owners on Tuesday announced that they have sued the state in an effort to stop it from selling the Orange County Fairgrounds to a private developer for $100 million. American Fairs and Festivals — made up of swap meet operator Tel Phil Enterprises Inc. and many of its sellers — filed suit in Orange County Superior Court to stop the state's Department of General Services from transferring the 150-acre property to Newport Beach-based Facilities Management West.

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday is expected to put its city charter plan on the general election ballot. A charter - a city constitution by another name - would allow municipal issues like zoning, city project funding and elections to be decided by the council. The meeting, which is the third and final discussion on the charter, is also the last chance for the council to amend it before sending it to the Nov. 6 ballot. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer introduced the charter idea late last year.

An appellate court on Monday denied a request by the city of Costa Mesa to put its proposed charter measure on the June 5 ballot. The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana turned down the city's writ seeking to compel county elections officials to put the measure before voters during the statewide primary, despite the fact that the city missed the original filing deadline. Costa Mesa could not demonstrate the city would suffer "irreparable harm" if the proposed charter did not go before voters in June instead of at another time, according to the opinion.

Costa Mesa's governance will shift toward increased local control should a majority of the city's voters approve a proposed charter in November's general election, advocates say. The ballot's charter initiative, Measure V, attempts to change Costa Mesa from a general-law city under the purview of state guidelines to being home-ruled by a charter. The major changes imposed by the charter, which would essentially serves as a city constitution, have been hotly defended and contested in the months since the document made the Nov. 6 ballot.

Editor's note: This corrects the spelling of Hussam Ayloush's name. NEWPORT BEACH — University of California President Mark Yudof spoke before an estimated 350 people at Temple Bat Yahm on Thursday night, telling the predominantly Jewish crowd that he doesn't condone the anti-Semitic statements occasionally made on UC campuses, not just at UC Irvine. But the reality, Yudof said, is that there is nothing he can do about it because they are protected under the 1st Amendment, which allows for free speech and the right to assemble.

A man accused in a lawsuit of filing a false drunk-driving report against Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer asserted his 5th Amendment right not to testify throughout a three-hour deposition on Thursday, attorneys said. Private investigator Chris Lanzillo invoked the constitutional protection against self-incrimination more than 200 times, said attorney John Manly, who represents Righeimer and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger in the civil action filed against Lanzillo; the law firm that employed him, Lackie, Dammeier, McGill & Ethir; and the Costa Mesa Police Assn.

Tuesday's Irvine City Council meeting was marked with an introductory moment of silence in memory of Keith Lawrence and Monica Quan, as well as two law enforcement officials who allegedly fell prey to former cop Christopher Dorner. Mayor Steven S. Choi also commended Roger Steeber, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier for saving the life of an elderly Irvine resident on Sept. 17. Steeber was on his route when billowing smoke snagged his attention, leading him to the mobile home of Karen Petersen, 79. According to Orange County Fire Authority division Chief Michael Moore, the fire in question was moving fast on one of the windiest days of the year, and it was only Steeber's quick thinking that saved Petersen before she was overcome by smoke.

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday evening approved putting a proposed city charter on the general election ballot, marking the first time in the city's nearly 60-year history that it could fundamentally change how it operates. In a 4-1 vote, with Councilwoman Wendy Leece dissenting, the move put the decision to enact the document — essentially a city constitution — to the will of voters in November. If approved by a majority, Costa Mesa would become a charter city, with municipal affairs such as zoning and public contracts under the rules of the city instead of the state constitution.

Norma Jeanne Strobel Ralph E. Shaffer Proposition 8: When Courts Overturn the Will of the People It’s been done before in California – Stunned by the narrow victory to ban same-sex marriage in California , gay and lesbian organization lawyers have moved to the courts. Ambiguities regarding amendment and revision of the state constitution gives them hope that the state Supreme Court will overturn the Proposition 8 victory. Article 18 of the state constitution makes it clear that there is a distinction between a revision and an amendment to the constitution.